Perfection Challenged!

Just when I thought I had perfected my overnight cloth diapering system (a bumGenius One Size 3.0 pocket diaper stuffed with a micro-terry insert and a BabyKicks Hemparoo Joey Bunz) I ran into yet ANOTHER stink issue. Of course, overnight diapers can be a bit challenging when it comes to odor build-up, but I thought as long as I had a routine to deal with the washing challenge of the micro-terry inserts I would be okay. Then my hemp inserts became the problem child! I couldn’t get them completely odor-free with my regular washing routine. When my micro-terry inserts start to act up I can resort to bleach, however bleach is not recommended for hemp. I started to panic…maybe my overnight system isn’t so perfect. Now what do I do?

Call Serena?!? Normally, yes, but I decided that I would give this a full trial run on my own to see what I could come up with. Worst case scenario, I knew that Serena would be there if I needed her!

My first idea was to just strip the hemp inserts. I did several washes with hot, hot water without any detergent. I never saw any suds coming out and they were still pretty stinky.

Then I eyed my bag of Rockin’ Green (Grape Soda, in case you’re wondering). Now, I am a huge Rockin’ Green fan and sing their praises whenever possible, but even this fan really didn’t think a “mini-strip” using the detergent would actually work. Shame on me for doubting! Since I have a front loader that uses a very small amount of water (great for the environment, tough for cloth diapers) I decided to do my soaking in the sink. Side note: I had to plan this when my firstborn, Olivia, was in school because she loves to use my diaper-soaking in the downstairs bathroom as her perfect excuse not to wash her hands!

I filled the sink with super hot water and about 2 ½ Tablespoons of Rockin’ Green. I set my timer (don’t laugh, this is a serious experiment and I’m known to lose track of time) and left them alone for 30 minutes. After they soaked I ran them through a normal wash with 2 extra rinse cycles to be sure all of the detergent was rinsed out. The result? They came out of the dryer absolutely perfect. No smells, good or bad. And like a corny, laundry detergent commercial my husband remarked, “They’re brighter and whiter now, too!” I promise you, he’s much cooler in person!

Relief, my overnight system is perfect again. And I didn’t have to contact Serena!

23 comments:

Sweet! Nice to know that worked for you! I just bought my first thing of Rockin' Green Detergent (Cherry Almond) and using it in the regular wash doesn't completely rid my diapers of their stains, so I'll have to try the soaking in teh sink method beccasclothdiaperblog.blogspot.com

Soaking IS great!Suggestion:Try soaking your diapers in a bucket or empty trash can on top of your washer. That will keep your sink free and the soaking diapers out of curious toddlers hands. Also very easy to dump the whole thing into your front-loader since it will likely drain everything before starting the wash cycle.

Thanks for the tip– I think I might go home and put my overnight inserts (Super-Dos) in a soak of Rockin' Green tonight. Can I ask how often you typically do this in order to keep stink at bay?

Beccalynn– although Rockin' Green usually works great with stink, I think the stains are a different issue. From what I understand, the best way (and in some cases the only way) to get the stains all out is the SUN!

So glad I finally decided to follow the blogtoday and had a chance to read this! I too have a front loader and continuously have to use bleach (which makes me cringe, but nothing else worked!) to get the stinkies out of my diapers. I finally just accepted that this is how it will be and that I wouldn't get worked up each time I had to use bleach. I'm so glad I now have another idea to try! Does this work for the microfleece inserts too? Would you guys recommend a switch of detergents? We currently use Charlie's Soap with Sun Oxygen which I am happy with. I think my front loader is more to blame.

I'm having stink buildup on my diapers – not just the overnights (augh!). I wonder, would the mini strip work with other detergent? I have been using Charlie's Soap but want to switch to Rockin' Green – but in the meanwhile, anyone think that it would work?

Christa-I, like you, detest having to use bleach. I've talked about that in previous posts! However, I have given in to the necessity of it now and again. My recommendation (not to knock other products) is to give Rockin Green a try. I used to use Charlie's Soap and ran into a lot of stinkies! Oh, and this method does work on microfleece! GL!

Thanks for sharing the specifics of how to do this. I've been using Rockin' Green from the start. I started with the soft rock unscented with my newborn, and now a few months later we're on to the classic rock cherry almond. I still get stink issues with my microfiber inserts, and I've wanted to try a soak, but didn't know how much/how long. I'll try your method next. I'm looking forward to the hard rock version for my hard water.